Nonsense is senseless or meaningless talk, language, or ideas; an untrue statement; or behaviour that is foolish or not straightforward. Nonsense, in one form or another, has often been practiced in literature to illustrate a point or highlight something that is ridiculous or contradictory; or, alternatively, can surface in other, more everyday contexts as something said indiscreetly or thoughtlessly that is liable to be misunderstood.

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There are two ways of dealing with nonsense in this world. One is to put nonsense in the right place; as when people put nonsense into nursery rhymes. The other is to put nonsense in the wrong place; as when they put it into educational addresses, psychological criticisms, and complaints against nursery rhymes or other normal amusements of mankind. ~ G. K. Chesterton

Alphabetized by author

If … nonsense is really to be the literature of the future, it must have its own version of the Cosmos to offer; the world must not only be tragic, romantic, and religious, it must be nonsensical also. ~ G. K. Chesterton

Nonsense wakes up the brain cells. And it helps develop a sense of humor, which is awfully important in this day and age. ~ Theodor Seuss Geisel

There are two ways of dealing with nonsense in this world. One is to put nonsense in the right place; as when people put nonsense into nursery rhymes. The other is to put nonsense in the wrong place; as when they put it into educational addresses, psychological criticisms, and complaints against nursery rhymes or other normal amusements of mankind.

If, therefore, nonsense is really to be the literature of the future, it must have its own version of the Cosmos to offer; the world must not only be tragic, romantic, and religious, it must be nonsensical also.

Nonsense wakes up the brain cells. And it helps develop a sense of humor, which is awfully important in this day and age.

Theodor Seuss Geisel, [Dr. Seuss] (1904 –1991), American writer and cartoonist. As quoted in "Author Isn't Just a Cat in the Hat" by Miles Corwin in The Los Angeles Times (27 November 1983); also in Dr. Seuss: American Icon (2004) by Philip Nel, p. 38.

Probably the best nonsense poetry is produced gradually and accidentally, by communities rather than by individuals.

George Orwell, Nonsense Poetry, in 'Shooting an Elephant and Other Essays'.

Such a shuffleing, nonsensical paragraph was, I firmly believe, never put together since the invention of letters. That which I do not, and which, I think, no one can, understand. I shall not meddle with.

The belief that the people of a democracy rule themselves through their elected representatives, though sanctified by tradition and made venerable by multiple repetitions, is actually mysticalnonsense. In any election, only a percentage of the people vote. Those who can't vote because of age or other disqualifications, and those who don't vote because of confusion, apathy, or disgust at a Tweedledum-Tweedledummer choice can hardly be said to have any voice in the passage of the laws which govern them. Nor can the individuals as yet unborn, who will be ruled by those laws in the future. And, out of those who do "exercise their franchise," the large minority who voted for the loser are also deprived of a voice, at least during the term of the winner they voted against.

But even the individuals who voted and who managed to pick a winner are not actually ruling themselves in any sense of the word. They voted for a man, not for the specific laws which will govern them. Even all those who had cast their ballots for the winning candidate would be hopelessly confused and divided if asked to vote on these actual laws. Nor would their representative be bound to abide by their wishes, even if it could be decided what these "collective wishes" were. And besides all this, a large percentage of the actual power of a mature democracy, such as the U.S.A., is in the hands of the tens of thousands of faceless appointed bureaucrats who are unresponsive to the will of any citizen without special pull.

Under a democratic form of government, a minority of the individuals governed select the winning candidate. The winning candidate then proceeds to decide issues largely on the basis of pressure from special-interest groups. What it actually amounts to is rule by those with political pull over those without it. Contrary to the brainwashing we have received in government-run schools, democracy—the rule of the people through their elected representatives—is a cruel hoax!

Not only is democracy mystical nonsense, it is also immoral. If one man has no right to impose his wishes on another, then ten million men have no right to impose their wishes on the one, since the initiation of force is wrong (and the assent of even the most overwhelming majority can never make it morally permissible). Opinions—even majority opinions—neither create truth nor alter facts. A lynch mob is democracy in action. So much for mob rule.

He killed the noble Mudjokivis.
Of the skin he made him mittens,
Made them with the fur side inside,
Made them with the skin side outside.
He, to get the warm side inside,
Put the inside skin side outside;
He, to get the cold side outside,
Put the warm side fur side inside.
That's why he put the fur side inside,
Why he put the skin side outside,
Why he turned them inside outside.

Given as Anon. in Carolyn Wells, Parody Anthology, p. 120.

When Bryan O'Lynn had no shirt to put on,
He took him a sheep skin to make him a' one.
"With the skinny side out, and the wooly side in,
'Twill be warm and convanient," said Bryan O'Lynn.

Old Irish Song.

For blocks are better cleft with wedges,
Than tools of sharp or subtle edges,
And dullest nonsense has been found
By some to be the most profound.

Conductor, when you receive a fare,
Punch in the presence of the passenjare.
A blue trip slip for an eight-cent fare,
A buff trip slip for a six-cent fare,
A pink trip slip for a three-cent fare,
Punch in the presence of the passenjare!

Chorus
Punch, brothers! punch with care!
Punch in the presence of the passenjare!

Mark Twain, Punch, Brothers, Punch. Used in Literary Nightmare. Notice posted in a car and discovered by Mark Twain. Changed into the above jingle, which became popular, by Isaac Bromley and others. See Albert Bigelow Paine, Biography of Mark Twain.

Misce stultitiam consiliis brevem:
Dulce est desipere in loco.

Mingle a little folly with your wisdom; a little nonsense now and then is pleasant.

Nonsensical pseudo-Latin text traditionally used for demonstrating typography and layout. Origin of modern use is unknown. The text derives from chopped up words and phrases from Cicero's De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum ("On the Ends of Goods and Evils", also known as "The Purposes of Good and Evil".) More at Wikipedia.

One bright day, in the middle of the night, two dead boy's began to fight. Back to back they faced each other, drew their swords and shot each other. A deaf policemen heard the noise, and came to save the two dead boys. If you don't believe me, well it's true, ask the blind man, he saw it all too.